New post from JancisRobinson.com - Victoria's cool Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs - Tamlyn Currin

We had a lovely visit from UK friends and widely read and respected journalists, Tamlyn Currin & Will Lyons just before vintage kicked off in late Jan.
It was a pleasure to chat and taste through a range of wines.

See below for some Bannockburn related highlights and wine notes, but head to jancisrobinson.com for the full article.

All notes by Tamlyn Currin.

Bannockburn, 1314 Moorabool Valley Chardonnay 2024 Geelong
16.5/20
Chardonnay is 50% of their production. The 1314 range is made from estate fruit and the aim is an easy-drinking wine. 100% malo. 15% new oak. 
Confident, extrovert, full of ready charm and quite rich. Layers of walnut cream, mango, orange and citrus peel. Lovely roundness. Tingling acidity. So fresh! Succulence and verve. (TC) 13% Drink 2025 – 2029

Bannockburn Chardonnay 2023 Geelong
17.5/20
Blend of fruit from estate vineyards planted in 1976 as well as much younger. 'We’re the first producer in the region to experiment with high-density planting', says Gus Pollard. Average vine age in this blend is 35 years. Spontaneous fermentation. 25% new oak.
Rose grapefruit! And like the 1314, a juicy, vivacious, outgoing wine. Even the acidity has succulence. So much lushness. Striped with green and gold. Humming with mid-palate presence and coils and coils of energy. Glorious clementine sweetness and then this ripe red-cherry acidity that comes as quite a surprise. Hibiscus floral notes. Quarry-dust minerals. Silky but also the feel of peel. Long! This really is outstanding. (TC)
13.5% Drink 2025 – 2035 

Bannockburn, SRH Chardonnay 2023 Geelong
18/20
A single-vineyard wine made from 12 specific rows of Chardonnay planted at Olive Tree Hill Vineyard in 1976. Named after Bannockburn's founder, Stuart Reginald Hooper. There is a lot of evidence in the soil profile of marine sediment and these 12 rows always give them the best Chardonnay fruit. They've bottled them separately since 1990. Spontaneous fermentation and ageing in hogsheads and puncheons. Natural malo.
A richness that reminds me of panettone and lemon drizzle, but then it layers into yuzu, pomelo, ripe grapefruit, greengage and just a hint of green mango. Caramelised hazelnut. Long and insistent. Braised-sweetcorn sweet toastiness and richness. Clementine in the acidity, which fans out through the wine, giving the fruit electric energy. Stunningly luscious and gorgeous. Absolutely nothing shy and retiring about this resplendent wine. (TC)
13.5% Drink 2025 – 2040 

Bannockburn, 1314 Moorabool Valley Pinot Noir 2024 Geelong
16/20
Estate fruit, made to be easy drinking. 20% whole bunch to elevate spice aromas. 15% new oak. Bottled November 2024.
Sous bois, forest floor, tomato vine. Savoury and tangy rather than the sweeter Pinots we've been tasting – the fruit is more rose hip and blood orange and sort of sharp, woodsy, bosky fruit with some violets. (TC)
13.5% Drink 2025 – 2029

Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2023 Geelong
17/20
Tangy red fruit, hawthorn berries, framed by burls of earthiness; red rocks, rain on lemon pith. The tannins are many but full and as soft as cotton bolls. So much spice. Clove and baharat and then the taste of wild blackberries. This is lovely. You could get lost in this. (TC)
13% Drink 2025 – 2033

Bannockburn, Serré Pinot Noir 2023 Geelong
17.5/20
Certified organic. A single estate vineyard of MV6 clones planted in 1984. Likely the oldest high-density vineyard in Australia (1.2 m x 1.2 m). Serré means 'pulled close together'. Trellised low and very low-yielding. One-third new oak, mixed coopers.
Woodland strawberries. Very slightly musky. So much strawberry. And quite a mosaic. Very, very pretty. I love the savoury, sweet-not-sweet tang in these Bannockburn Pinots. Like strawberries dipped in blood orange. Really aromatic and fragrant in a wonderful under-earth way. Soft whisper of anise on the end, caught in the dusky tannins. (TC)
13% Drink 2025 – 2038